How I Surprised My Friends With a Birthday Girls Trip at 53
For years, I’ve watched Sara Blakely surprise her friends with birthday trips.
No details.
Just “Clear your schedule.”
Every time, I thought:
I want to do that one day.
Not because of the destination.
But because of the intention.
The joy of being the one who gathers.
I’ve been thinking about this for years.
But my list of women I wanted to invite kept getting longer.
So this year, I stopped overthinking it.
For 53, I chose small.
Just my closest friends.
And I blocked a weekend.
The kind of weekend that feels like exhale.
The Planning (And the Dodging)
First, I asked for availability.
No explanation.
Then I booked flights and asked for credit cards.
The questions came fast:
Where are we going?
What do I pack?
Is it warm?
Do I need heels?
I dodged them all.
And honestly?
It was thrilling.
Why It Feels Different Now
We are not in our 2am birthday era anymore.
We’re in our:
Lazy mornings.
Spa afternoons.
Charcuterie and wine by the fire.
Hot tubs.
Deep talks.
The gift now isn’t noise.
It’s quality time.
It’s being able to treat the women who have walked through decades with you.
And what surprised me most?
How excited they were to not plan.
Midlife women are usually the ones holding everything together.
Sometimes the greatest luxury is simply being taken care of.
Thinking about planning something like this for your own circle?
Whether it’s a cozy cabin, spa weekend, or a surprise girlfriends getaway, I can help you design it without the overwhelm.
This Is Just the Beginning
I have a feeling this will become an annual tradition.
I’m already thinking about next year.
Because midlife isn’t about shrinking your world.
It’s about gathering intentionally.
And if you’ve been thinking about planning a girls getaway of your own, it doesn’t have to be complicated.
It just has to start.
If you’ve been waiting for the perfect time to gather your girls…
This is it.
It doesn’t have to be big.
It doesn’t have to be complicated.
It just has to start.
